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The cataclysm is the Greek expression for the Biblical Great Flood of Noah, from the Greek kataklysmos, to "wash down." Erudite Bible studies drew it into the English language in 1633. A cataclysm is merely one kind of catastrophe, best used when confined to a geological phenomenon of planetary significance. (for examples, see list of cataclysms)

As with many words of apocalyptic Biblical resonance, the adoption of cataclysm for features of manufactured pop culture in order to evoke an atmosphere of doom may provoke unintentional hilarity (compare Camp).

A cataclysm is an event or catastrophe in which great changes happen.

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• In the novel series Dragonlance, the Cataclysm is a series of great disasters, primarily notable a great flood and a fiery mountain. This was caused by the Kingpriest, who in his pride demanded of the gods to scourge the world of evil. In favor, the gods thrust the Cataclysm upon Krynn.
• In the online sprite comic Bob and George, the Cataclysm refers to an event to take place in the future where the strip's characters of the present are slain. Presently, the Cataclysm is shown through eight flash movies, three of which have been completed. See Bob and George.

• In the anime series, The Big O, the main protagonist, Roger Smith, visits Gordon Rosewater, a man who can be associated with a certain credibility of Roger's past. Rosewater tells Roger that over 40 years ago, the very cataclysm with robots running amok that destroyed the city is a complete lie and that it was entirely fictional.
• In the videogame, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, there was a town a thousand years ago that was believed to be destroyed by a cataclysm.
• In the videogame Final Fantasy XII, one of the finishers for a Mist Quickening combo is called "Cataclysm".
• In the videogame World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, one of the Shaman's armor sets is called "Cataclysm Raiment".
• There is a song by Symphony X called "The Bird-Serpent War/Cataclysm"
• There is a video game in the Homeworld series, called Homeworld: Cataclysm, where the cataclysm refers to the accidental release of a horrendous bio-technological plague.
• In the short story The House on Maple Street by horror writer Stephen King, the Bradbury children discover that their house is a large time bomb that is counting down to something, and they can sense it is not good.

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